RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I believe we are not a Christian nation anymore.  We are a nation that has a lot of Christians, but we are not a Christian nation.

A study from Family Research Council reveals that only 6% of America's adult population have a Biblical worldview.

As followers of Jesus this should challenge us. How can we turn this around and see more people come to Christ and follow Him?

George Barna recently shared that it starts with the children.  We must instill a Biblical worldview in children that will stay with them for the rest of their life.  

How is this going to happen?

What should be our focus?

Who should be our focus?

I believe it starts with parents.  

You want to see kids come to Christ and grow in their faith?  Then you must focus on equipping and empowering parents to raise their children with a Biblical worldview.   

I often say that children are like wet cement.  They are not set in their ways or belief system. You can mold them, shape them and see them become lifelong followers of Jesus.  

But we must remember that wet cement soon turns into concrete.  Once it becomes concrete it is very hard to mold or shape it.  You have to have hammers, chisels, jack hammers, etc.  We only have a short window of time to reach the next generation.  We must reach and disciple children while they are still wet cement.

Research shows that a child's worldview is pretty must set by the age of 13.  Don't miss this!  We only have to the age of 13 to effectively instill God's ways, Word and wisdom into the lives of children.

Parents are the number one key in this.

before the pastor...

before the children's ministry director...

before the Sunday school teacher...

before the midweek volunteers...

before the VBS volunteers...

before the camp directors...

Parents are first and foremost the biggest key to seeing kids grow in their faith.

Parents... this is not something you can outsource.  This is not something you can delegate to someone at the church.  It's on you. 

Look what it says in Deuteronomy 4.

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children." 

It's time we, as children's ministry leaders, focus on equipping parents to raise their children to follow Jesus.  

Research shows that less than 10% of parents have any kind of spiritual growth plan for their children. Our role is to come alongside them and provide them with the resources and spiritual growth plans they need to disciple their children.  I believe that the majority of parents will respond if we place the tools in their hands. 

Barna says that parents must have everyday spiritual conversations with their children. Here's the strategy he encourages parents to follow.

"The conversations have to take place around real world events. Tell stories, get examples from your children of what they’re going through in life, and relate biblical principles to those stories, but do it not by beating them over the head with God’s Word, but by asking them questions about what they believe, why they believe it, what they did, why they did it, asking if they’re familiar with different biblical principles. Do they think that might have worked in the situation?”

I believe this and have seen that if we will follow this strategy, we will see our kids and grandkids grow up to follow Jesus for a lifetime.  That's our end goal, right?

Do you have a copy of my book "Fertile Soil...see kids' faith grow and flourish for a lifetime?"  In this book, I share the 3 biggest reasons why kids walk away from the faith.  I show how we can counter this and see kids grow up to follow Jesus for a lifetime.

Get your copy today at this link. 

Kidscreen magazine recently released some predictions about the next generation of kids.

Gen Alpha is the newest generation to be identified.  These are children born between 2010 to 2025.  

There are currently more than 2.5 million Gen Alpha Kids being born each week. By 2024, there will be more than 2 billion of them.

They are the children in your ministry.  These are the babies being gently rocked by your nursery volunteers.  These are the toddlers who explore anything that can be grasped in their small hands.  These are the elementary age children who you will find giggling in the hallway at church.  These are the pre-teens who are trying to navigate the newest cultural trends they are surrounded by. 

Let's look at these predictions for a few minutes and identify the effect it will have on this new generation of children.

1. TikTok will rule.   

Google has dominated for many years now.  The answer to any question has been "Google it."  The search for an image has been "Google It."  Google has been the leading platform where people can find basically anything in world. 

But that is changing.  Google may be pushed over with today's kids who are flocked to social platforms that feature short, video clips. In 2022 there was an 125% increase in the number of kids (ages 10 to 18) who watch TikTok for informative information.  40% of Gen Alpha used TikTok in 2022. Kids in Mexico (68%) and Brazil (63%) led the way. 

This week children will walk through the doors of your church.  

They will come from many different backgrounds, family dynamics and life situations.

No matter what they are mentally or physically carrying as they walk into the doors of your church, there are 5 big things they want from your children's ministry. 

They may not be able to articulate these 5 things, but it is what they are longing for.  

Every child wants to hear their name spoken.  

The sweetest sound to a child is hearing their name called (unless they are in trouble).

When you call a child by name it shows them that you care enough about them to memorize their name (of course - name tags are a big help with this - but don't depend on name tags - learn the child's name and remember it).

Every child wants to be accepted.  

Kids are often insecure...especially if they are new or don't have any friends at church (kinda' like us as adults - right?).

Help them get connected to other children in the church so they have the opportunity to make some friends. You will often have to initiate this for them.

After we have been in a church for awhile, we tend to forget what it is like to walk into a new place and not know anyone.  It can especially be hard for a child to do this.  

Go the second mile to make children feel accepted.  One key part of this is teaching the kids who are already attending to be intentional about helping new kids or kids who are loners. 

If you really want to be intentional, train a team of kids to be greeters.  They can meet new children at the door and hang with them throughout the entire service.  This will not only help new or lonely kids to feel accepted, but will also give established kids an opportunity to serve.

Every child wants to know they are missed when they are not able to attend.  

We often complain (myself included) about kids who only attend church once a month of even less.  We often point a finger at the children's parents for not making church attendance a priority.  But stop and think with me for a moment.  Maybe one of the reasons children don't attend regularly is because we don't show them that they are missed. Why attend when it doesn't matter to anyone that I will be absent?

One of the big things you can do is to send personal miss you cards to children when they are absent.  Let them know you missed seeing them.  Let them know it matters a lot when they are not there.  Send the card through the mail to the child.  It's a big, big, big, big deal for a child to get a miss you card.  As adults, we are always getting mail (like 10 credit card apps a day).  But kids rarely get mail.  Use the postcards you send to show them that you care and they are missed.  It will make a difference.

Every child wants to know more about Jesus.

This is another thing kids may not be able to articulate, but it is something they want and need.  They want to know more about this person who died for them.  They want to know more about how much Jesus loves them.  They want to know more about why He died on the cross and rose again. 

They want to know what happens when they die.  They want to know about this place called heaven. 

Remember, that the most important thing you can share with a child is the Gospel.  We can teach children a lot of important things, but it is essential...above all else...that we teach them about Jesus and what He did on the cross for them.

Every child wants to be prayed for. 

Ask them what prayer requests they have.

Ask them how you can pray for them. 

Take time each week to pray for the children in your ministry.  Call out their name and prayer requests to Jesus.  Celebrate with them when He answers their prayers.

If you consistently do these 5 things for the kids in your ministry, you will see children become followers of Jesus and begin to grow in their faith.   

In this book, I share the 3 big reasons why kids walk away from the faith and how you can see them become lifelong followers of Jesus instead.

You can get it now at this link.

This morning I was reading Deuteronomy 5.  Some of the verses popped out at me as I read them.  Check it out. 

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands.  

We often talk about reaching parents.  We know if we can reach the parents, then there is a high probability that their children will be reached as well. As this verse says...

...the entire family is affected

No one has more influence in a child's life than his or her parents.  You could say "as it goes with the parents, so it will go with their children."

If you want to reach children and see them follow Jesus for a lifetime, then you must reach and influence their parents.  You influence children by influencing their parents.

These verses even say if parents will love God and follow His commands, that He will pour down His love upon them and their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren and beyond.

When you reach children you change a life.  When you reach parents, you change an entire family.

I am an example of this. Our family knew nothing about God. My great, great grandfather was a criminal. One day he got into a fight with another man who was a criminal.  My great, great grandfather ended up murdering the man by stabbing him. He was convicted of the crime and was sent to prison. He was given a life sentence with no parole.

The entire family was affected. My grandfather followed in his footsteps and became the manager at a local bar.  He was a violent man and had his nose broken five times in bar fights. Christmas time usually turned into a drunken brawl. My grandfather would get drunk and would fight his family members. Still our family knew nothing about Jesus and had yet to experience His love and forgiveness. 

That all changed one day when a neighbor saw how messed up our family was.  He came to our house and knocked on the door. He told my grandmother and father how Christ had changed his life. We said "no" at first and told him we wanted nothing to do with God.  But the neighbor wouldn't give up.  He kept coming and inviting us to church.  Finally my grandmother told him if he would come by on Sunday and pick us up, we would go to church with them.  

My dad and grandmother stepped into a church for the very first time.  They found out there was a better life.  They entered a relationship with Jesus. Fast forward.  My dad is now 16.  He was called to preach and is pursuing that call.  When it was announced that he would preach at our church, my grandfather, the drunkard, said he would come and hear his son preach.

He kept his promise and showed up at church to hear his son preach.  I am sure people thought the roof would cave in if he came.  He heard my father share the Gospel and at the end of the service, He responded and walked forward to invite Jesus into His life.  He got off his knees a changed man. He never got drunk again and went on to follow Jesus for over 30 years and became a deacon in the church. 

My grandfather lived out the verse in Deuteronomy and passed on his faith to the generations that would come after him. I am a believer.  My son is a believer.  I am praying that my grandson will also be a believer when He reaches the age of accountability.  

It is crucial that children's ministry leaders begin to engage parents as well in the discipleship process. When you do this, God will use you to impact parents and the generations to follow.  

Grandparents - you also have the opportunity to influence your grandchildren and great grandchildren for Christ.  Don't miss this divine calling to pass on your faith to your family members who are looking to you for guidance.  You will affect their lives.

I can't say enough about engaging parents through family milestones.  I have found it is the most effective way to influence parents and grandparents.  These are key times in a family's life when they are very open to your spiritual leadership. 

Here are the five milestones I use to influence parents and grandparents.

• Parent and Child Dedication
• Bible Presentation class
  
• Starting Point salvation class
• Baptism for Kids class
• Elementary Graduation to Middle School 

If you can get parents and grandparents to engage with these key spiritual milestones, you will see the entire family impacted.

Take the words from this verse and make it a reality in the families in your ministry.

"The entire family is affected..."

"Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."  Ephesians 5:16

I shared this verse with the children's ministry volunteer team at my home church this morning. 

I've been thinking recently about this truth.  Paul encourages us to make the most of every opportunity we have to help reach and disciple people. 

Make the most of every opportunity...the vast majority of people come to Christ before the age of 18.

Make the most of every opportunity...before service starts, get involved with the kids instead of standing in the back looking at your smartphone.  

Make the most of every opportunity...greeters - people decide in the first few minutes of their visit if they are going to return or not.  You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression.

Make the most of every opportunity...led by example during praise and worship time. 

Make the most of every opportunity...call each child by name when you have the opportunity.  Kids listen to people who care about them.  If they hear you call them by name...they will know you care about them.  

Make the most of every opportunity...pray with the children and show them what it means to talk to Jesus.

Make the most of every opportunity...help children grow in their faith.  

Make the most of every opportunity...help children memorize and learn God's Word. 

Make the most of every opportunity...there are only 260 weekends from first grade to fifth grade. Only 260 opportunities to impact their life.  Don't miss the limited opportunities we have.

Make the most of every opportunity because as Paul says in this verse, "the days are evil." We are in a battle for the next generation. The evil one is trying to capture the hearts and minds of today's children. We must get there first and help children know and follow Jesus.  Back off evil one...you can't have the next generation.

Make the most of every opportunity...we have a limited amount of time to show kids how to share their faith.

Make the most of every opportunity...time moves so quickly....we will leave this world one day soon.  As we stand before God, we want to hear the words, "well done good and faithful servant."

Make the most of every opportunity.  Teachers and small group leaders...you have a limited amount of time each week to help children apply the truth to their life. 

Make the most of every opportunity...engage with parents and partner with them in disciplining their children.  You can make a difference in the short window of time you have with them at drop off and pick up before and after the service. Today, when the parents came to pick up their children, I spoke to them at the door and handed them the take home paper.  I encouraged them to go over the paper with their child during the week. (p.s.- you'll get more parents engaging with this if you personally hand them the take home paper.  The chance of the take home paper actually making it home goes up when you give it to the parents instead of the child.)

Make the most of every opportunity...pray God will give you opportunities to influence the children and make a difference in their life.

Make the most of every opportunity.